Brassiere



June 23,' 1959 E.. A. FORTI BRASSIERE 3 Sheets-Shee-t 1 Filedl Marbn 19,1958 INVENTOR. Eau ANCONA FORTI E. A. FORTI lJune 23, 1959 BRASSIERE 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed vMuh 19 1958 lNvENT'OR. ESR ANCONA FORTI June 23,1959 E. A. FORTI 2,891,548

BRAssIERE v Filed March 19, 1958 :s sheets-sheet s INVENTOR.

ESI@ ANCONA FORTI BY AH'ys United States Patent BRASSIERE.

Egle Ancona- Forti, Rome, Italy Application. March 19, 1958,.,Serial No.722,569..

ZClaims. (CL` 12S-485) The present invention;l relatesv to animprovementA in brassieres. and the main objectl of this. invention isto provide a, form of; suspension-.tohold thebreast in its physiologicalposition, avoiding any deformation or relaxation The objectof this;inventionlis attained'y by adopting a; suspensory means. 'vvhilir aiordsan; ample, non-rigid and non-binding supporty tothe breast independentof the ornamental task of a conventional brassiere.

Of course., there is. provided one suspensory. means, or suspensorypocket, for each breast, andsaidpockets, may be incorporated in a striptype brassiere, or to a strapless-brassiere, provided that inthe lattercase, the involved structure. is capable -of supporting the downwardlydirected stress acting on the structure,-

The structure may-V be used in different types of brassiers, aswell asina girdle, a.- dress,.a -bathingvfsuit and generally in garments ofvarious kinds, provided that they comprise elements which constitutemeans for the application of the two free edges of said suspensory meansfor such garments.

The suspensory means per se, which is made of any material, of naturalor synthetic fiber, woven, or knitted, or elastic provided it offersadequate strength, is formed as an elongated strip element having aconcavity decreasing from that part of the strip fitting the center ofthe chest to the opposite end of the strip. This concavity is generatedby cutting away a wedge-shaped slip in the zone of the strip near to thechest and then sewing to each other the rims of the cut-out. The apex ofthe wedge-shaped cut-out is directed toward the middle zone of thesuspensory member.

Furthermore, the supporting capacity of each of said suspensory pocketsis improved by a reinforcing quilting provided in the lower zone of thestrip element and on which bears the weight of the breast.

It is to be noted that if the wearer of the brassiere according to theinvention requires prothesis elements, the latter maybe easily appliedto the suspensory means.

This invention will be further described with reference to the attacheddrawings wherein:

Fig. l shows a complete brassiere according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows in an enlarged scale a detail of the brassiere of Fig. lseen from inside;

Fig. 3 shows a view of the brassiere of Fig. 1, in open condition;

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of a brassiere similar to that of Fig. 1,with no ornamental part;

Fig. 5 shows a detail seen from the center towards the outside of thecomposition of one of the suspensory members;

Fig. 6 shows a largely diagrammatical detail to demonstrate how one ofthe suspensory members performs its function, and

Fig. 7 shows a diagrammatical top view of one of the suspensory memberswhen used.

rcice With reference to,thedrawings,,the-brassierecomprises a bodyencircling member formed, of two sidey portions 1 and 1 connectedntherOntpart byvmeansgoatband 3 having a height less than the sideportions. Side portions 1 and 1 maybe securedto each. otherI atthe-'back of the wearer by means of a plurality ofhooks 2.

The points 8 and8.- of the side portions- 1i and-,1' are connected toeachother by. means of. an'inex-tensible band 18 comprising the lengths-6, 7 and 6', 7,v angularly. disposed with respect to eachV othersoasftoform two upf wardly extending vertexes, 5..- and 5 which.registerr with the middle of the womans,` breast, and a downwardlyextendingv vertex 9.v registering with. the.. middle of the chest of thewearer. Vertex 9, iscOnnectedby. means-:of an inextensible strip 14(Fig, 4) tothe middlepart-` 10sof band 3.

To the vertexes 5 and 5' the- Suspenders-'mand 4. are connected which inturn are fastened to the middlelrear zone of the side portions 1y and1,-.

In the zone of the sideportions.. 1; andi. adjacentto the band 3 thereare located e.g. two,cor,setf stay s-4 15and 1S made of plastic, metalor similar. materiahiolfE keep-l ing the side portions 1 andl." in` anupright#position.`

According to the invention,rtwo suspensoryfmembers 1l areprovided whichgive a physiologically correct-support tothe breast. The suspensorymembers 11, which are made of fabricA or anyother-material.havir1ganade.- quate strength, are eachV in the.Y form. of, an elongated strip`element having av concavity-,- decreasing from that part` of the stripfitting the-.center of thefchestl to thefop;l posite endof the strip.;This coneayity,dwhich. is. the greatest in the Zone 12, is generated bycutting away a wedge-shaped slip in the zone 16 near to the chest andthen sewing together the rims of the cutting. The apex of thewedge-shaped cut-out is directed toward the middle zone of thesuspensory member. The suspensory members are provided in the lower zonethereof with a reinforcing quilting 17 which stilens the strip element11 and abuts against the breast. The suspensory members 11 are connectedat one end to the lengths 7 and 7 of the inextensible band 18, while theother end is in part connected to the length 6 of band 18 and in partpasses under the upright edge of the side portions 1 and 1 and isfastened to the upper edge of said side portions in the Zone wherein thecorset stays 15 and 15 are positioned, which zone registers with themiddle of the arm pit. Thus the weight of the breast is supported by thecorset stays 15 and 15 independently of the supporting action of theSuspenders 4 and 4 which only have the task of keeping the brassiere ina proper position. From the drawings it may be clearly seen that thesuspensory members 11 afford to the 'breast an ample, non-rigid andnon-binding support. Moreover, during the movements of the woman the-breast supported by the members 11 may freely protrude through theapertures 19, as well as when these latter are covered by an ornamentalelement.

In the embodiment shown by way of example in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, anornamental tulle element which is applied between the lower band 3 andthe inextensible upper elements as 6 and 7', or said tulle element byitself forms said inextensible elements by means of a marginal fold orreinforcing element.

lt is to be noted that, as shown in Fig. 6, said ornamental element mustbe more slack than the suspensory members, so as to perform no holdingfunction, but to cover only the underlying shape without totallyadhering thereto. Possibly, and incidentally, without departing from theaforesaid feature, the ornamental element 13 could have the function, byproviding a suitable reinforced portion 14, of connecting the upperportion of the suspension line to the lower band 3, to hold taut thebroken line of the supporting upper edge comprising the parts as 6 and7.

However, it is important to note that this arrangement does not aiectthe inventive concept in that this invention resides in the presence ofthe two suspensory members lll which in virtue of their particular formand location afford an ample, non-rigid and non-binding support to thebreast which is kept in its physiologically correct position. Thisfunction is further shown from the Fig. 7 which, in top View, shows howbreast, marked in dot and dash line, is supported physiologically in themost correct way to prevent its relaxation and deformation.

Fig. 4, in which only the essential structural elements, without theornamental parts, are illustrated, clearly shows that this invention isparticularly useful for women who are nursing a baby. In fact, while thenipple is left uncovered, the Ibreast remains at its natural locationand this brassiere thus has a supporting function for the 'breast duringnursing, so as to avoid any pathological alteration of the breast tissueand preserving the tissue and physiological integrity.

I claim:

1. An improved brassiere which comprises in combination a bodyencircling member having two side portions, a central portion in thefront part of the bassiere connecting the said side portions, saidcentral portion being of a height less than the side portions and saidside portions having means thereon to secure them to each other at theback of the wearer, corset stays in the said side portions of thearm-pit of the wearer for keeping said side portions in uprightposition, an inextensible band connected between the upper inner edgesof the said side portions, said inextensible `band being formed ofseveral lengths angularly disposed with respect to each other so as toform two upwardly extending vertexes one registering with the middleline of each breast of the wearer and one downwardly extending vertexregistering with the middle line of the chest of the wearer, aninextensible strip connecting the middle zone of said inextensible bandand the middle zone of the said central portion, two suspenders fastenedbetween the upwardly extending vertexes of said inextensible band andthe back of the said side portions, two suspensory members one for eachbreast each being in the form of an elongated strip element, said stripelement being connected at one end to the length of the saidinextensible band between the downwardly extending vertex and one of theupwardly extending vertexes, and at the other end to the said sideportion of the brassiere body in the zone wherein said corset stays arepositioned, whereby said suspensory members aiord to the breast anample, non-rigid support while keeping the breast in its physiologicallycorrect position.

2. A brassiere as claimed in claim l, wherein the suspensory members inthe form of an elongated strip are decreasingly concave from that partof the elongated strip fitting the center of the chest to the oppositeend of the elongated strip, said elongated strip having a wedgeshapedcut at the inner end of the suspensory member, said cut having thevertex directed toward the middle zone of the suspensory members, andthe edges of the cut being sewed to each other.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,033,847 Moore Mar. 10, 1936 2,044,623 Moran June 16, 1936 FOREIGNPATENTS 479,995 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1938

